Beachside Haven / Repulse Bay Garden | Bean Buro

“We were inspired by the calming atmosphere of the Repulse Bay beach for this luxurious and tranquil seaside residence. This project entailed a sophisticated use of beige evocative of sandy beaches throughout our material palette.”

— Kenny Kinugasa-Tsui, co-founder of Bean Buro

“We carefully introduced subtle, curved geometries in our bespoke joinery to explore a sense of softness to complement the apartment’s soothing beach view.”

— Lorène Faure, co-founder of Bean Buro

“Thank you again for designing the wonderful new home for us. We love it! Hotels now can’t compare to home.” — Client

The Brief: Working from home with children

This residential design is for a family of four (parents and two children with a couple of live-in helpers). The brief was to create a space that allows the parents who are in the financial industry to work from home when needed while watching over the kids. The kids would also have a lot of fun at home while doing their studies. This required a creative design with a great deal of flexibility and keeping the mood and feel refined in the adult-used spaces but fun and playful in the children's rooms.

The Narrative: Beach tranquility

We were inspired by the beautiful Repulse Bay Beach, which the apartment overlooks. Through a sophisticated use of beige evocative of sandy beaches throughout our material palette, we put together a calming and soft aesthetic, forming a dialogue with tranquil external scenery for a heightened sense of well-being.

The Process: Bespoke curves

We carefully introduced subtle, curved geometries to explore a sense of softness. We rounded edges to mitigate the contrast between light and shadow. For example, in the open dining and lounge space, we constructed a dry pantry as a backdrop with a set of rounded arches that contain display shelves. To keep each shelf thin, we used bespoke sculptural bookstands in irregular shapes that provide structural support while acting as a decorative element.

 The back wall surface of the shelf has a reflective finish to add a pristine and airy atmosphere to the lounge. This optically relieves the space and adds a feeling of generosity to the open area.

The Solution: Versatile spaces with a panoramic view

We created an entrance foyer as a welcoming area with a full-height reflective shoe cabinet which, combined with a backlit display niche, establishes a cosy, welcoming quality.

Stepping into the apartment, one can immediately appreciate the view out to the beach in a large open space composed of the dry pantry, dining area and lounge. The spatial strategy creates a panoramic effect with the windows and balcony, allowing maximum daylight to permeate the apartment. Bespoke porous screens with a friendly aesthetic are positioned between the dining area and the lounge to form subtle partitioning while bringing a unique personality. 

The backdrop is a timber volume which houses an enclosed home office with glass windows to bring in natural daylight since this is a supplementary room created in the centre of the apartment without any immediately accessible windows. This is an additional study room to the existing study next to the children's bedrooms and master ensuite. 

The children's quarters have been designed with flexibility in mind to adapt to the family's growing needs. While the young children can share a bedroom for now, the playroom includes a tuck-away murphy bed should it become another bedroom when the kids wish to have individual rooms.

The Materials: Neutral with pops of playfulness

To achieve the beach-inspired mood and feel, we worked with whitewashed timber for the general flooring and surfaces and various shades of beige and off-white paint colours for some walls and joinery. We also incorporated an earthy red fabric in multiple areas to bring warmth and depth to the colour scheme.

For the master bathroom, we applied red-coloured grouting between white tiles to add a sense of playfulness to the more mature setting. On the other hand, colour is used more liberally in the kids' bathroom with muted red walls and terracotta-coloured patterned tile flooring.

The window of the home office utilises a glass with a white-to-transparent gradient effect to provide privacy from the bottom but still allow natural daylight to penetrate from the top.

Well-being: Sustainable and child-friendly

Wherever possible, we used sustainable materials in the design. For example, the specified timber flooring is manufactured from renewable raw materials and can be recycled later. Wood also naturally stores carbon dioxide, even after it is transformed into flooring. Furthermore, we ensured to select materials from brands that exercise responsible sourcing and reduce waste in the manufacturing process, thereby having a low environmental impact. The paint we used is also kid-friendly with low VOC levels.

We designed the layout to maximise natural daylight to illuminate the spaces instead of relying on artificial lighting for most of the day. The lighting and blinds are linked to the same smart home system, allowing users to easily control solar gain at the touch of a button to minimise the need for air conditioning. Different lighting scenes have been specifically set so that across the hours of the day, most scenes do not require all the artificial lights to be switched on, thus reducing energy consumption.

The Challenge: Comfortability within a multifunctional home

One of the main challenges was to maximise function to accommodate the parents' needs to work from home while allowing the kids to play at home simultaneously. The challenge was inserting an additional private office while preserving visual openness, connectivity, and views without sacrificing comfort. The result is a design where the spaces do not feel cramped or dense; there are no 'dead' spaces because circulation spaces have been kept to a minimum through creative use of concealed doors, sliding doors and porous screening to differentiate the various areas.

Due to the different live/work/play functions, acoustic provision was vital. We paid particular attention to acoustic separation between rooms, such as employing office-grade glass partitions, wall build-ups, and acoustic absorption materials like fabric finishes.

Bean Buro team: Kenny Kinugasa-Tsui, Lorène Faure, Jamie Yue, Shefield Ng

Main contractor: R&C Engineering Co. Ltd

Client: Private

Location: Repulse Bay, Hong Kong

Area size: 2,050 sqft (approx. 190.5sqm)

Photography: Bean Buro